


Dead and Deader

by parallelmichelle



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Bisexual Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), F/M, M/M, Mexico, ale is too crazy, alejandra hernandez, author is too gay for this but loves reggie too much, im too tired for this but I love jatp more, mexican, my oc being in love, reggie is too cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26946097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parallelmichelle/pseuds/parallelmichelle
Summary: Alejandra Hernandez didn't expect to die on her seventeenth birthday but here she was dead, and a ghost hanging out with a ghost band that died back in 1995.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 25





	1. I just Wanted Some Bolis

0\. 2016

Okay so when I decided to throw myself a small birthday party, I didn't really expect to die that night. See everything was going great. My parents let me take my friends out to this beach house my grandfather gave us in his will for my birthday and all I knew was that I was going to have a great time. Of course, one of my friends was able to sneak some beers to the party and that might have been a mistake on my part to let a bunch of drunk teenagers near a body of water. So what you probably think is I drowned right? Yeah, I wish. I wouldn’t have to live down the humiliation I felt once I left the darkroom and landed back on Earth, hearing everyone at my school talk about death and giving my friends and family their fake condolences and then laughing about my death behind their backs but in my face.  
My best friend was yelling at me from the kitchen; I could hardly hear her but I knew she was telling me to hurry up. I was putting on some shorts over my bikini bottoms and trying to put some beach stuff into my bag so I wouldn’t have to come back for stuff once we get down to the beach.  
“Coming!” I yelled back at her, hoping she heard as I tripped trying to flip my sandal over to put it on and walk at the same time. I dropped my bag and it almost hit my foot. “Joder! Ugh.”  
“You okay over there?” April asked me and peaked over the mirror in her hands to look at me. I waved her off and just dropped the bag on the kitchen counter. She shrugs and fixes a stray curl from one of the two buns on her head. She was a year and a half(she doesn't like the half but I say it to spite her) younger than me but even then she still held a level of composure I wish I had. She was always calm and controlled which was good because according to her I didn't seem to be anywhere near that, which I disagree with.  
“When is everyone getting here again?”  
“They should almost be here,” April answered and checked her phone to see if she’s gonna any text. “Actually...Zeke, Connor, and Iesha just pulled up. Come on!”  
We both ran to the front of the house and waved at the trio, who hollered and ran in our direction. I shouted for them to hurry up and I tried to run down the stairs, almost tripping and falling down them, but I survived and was able to reach them just a bit before they got to the house. “You’re here! Let's go!”  
I pulled them all into the house and led them into the kitchen. “Okay so pizza is on its way.”  
“I can't wait, I’m stealing a banana.” Zeke grabbed a banana from the counter and began to eat.  
“Okay, but don't choke and die, alright?” Iesha told him. I nodded along with her words and looked at the boys’ clothes.  
“Wait, why are y'all wearing cargo shorts and sweats? What’s wrong with yall?” They looked down at the sweats and short, shrugging.  
“They didn’t have shorts to swim in so they told me to buy them some before I went to go pick them up and they’re not happy with them,” Ieshae explained to us and rummaged through her beach bag. “I think they’re cute.”  
She pulled out a pair of Hello Kitty and princess board shorts. April and I shared a look with each other before bursting out in laughter grabbing the shorts and imagining the boys in the shorts. They really shouldn’t have trusted Iesha. Much to the boys' discontent, they wore the shorts and we took cute pictures with them. And to be honest, by the end of the day I think they might have enjoyed them.  
We spent the day running around and swimming. We even made a little campfire to sit around. We did have to hold Connor back from accidentally burning himself, but I didn't miss the way April made sure I also stayed away form the fire too and I think that was a good idea as I don’t have a good track record with fire; it’s not as bad as Connor’s but it’s still as bad. At the end of the day, we sat around the fire, soaking up the last rays of the sun the sunset gave us.  
“So you’re seventeen now,” Zeke said and handed me another beer, he popped open. I pushed it back to him, shaking my head and gestured for him to hand me a soda instead.  
“I’m good. I’ve had enough. And it’s not that important though. Eighteen that’s when we should be celebrating,” I told him and cheered him with my soda. “We’ll have a huge party.”  
“It won’t be better than your quinceanera tho,” Iesha pointed out. I pointed at her, smiling at her thought.  
“Nothing will ever beat that,” Connor said and a nostalgic smile spread on his lips. “I had my first kiss that day.”  
“Holy shit, yeah you did with that sponge!” Zeke shouted and mimicked the scene with his beer bottle. Connor pushed Zeke off the wood log he was sitting on, knocking the bottle out of his hand.  
“Nah, fuck you, man, it was Okumura,” Connor corrected, hoping to keep his dignity intact. “I swear.”  
We all ignored him and turned back to Zeke who started talking. “The only thing that would make this better was some ice cream.”  
“Why didn’t I think of this earlier? We have some– Shit what are they called in English? The, uh, frozen stick things of sugar? The ugh frozen stuff in like a tubeYou know, the ugh! Bolis? But what’s that in English?”  
“Umm, popsicles?” Zeke suggested. I pointed at him.  
“Wrong, those are the stick one. I mean the ones in the tubes.”  
“Yeah, popsicles.”  
I shake my head again. “I refuse that answer but I will go get the bolis if you all get what I mean, or have Zeke, I'll go get them.” I jumped off the sand and began to walk away from them. “I will be right back with some, as Zeke calls them, ‘popsicles’!”  
“Ooo, wait,” April shouted at me and I froze for a second. “Get your guitar too! We’re having a campfire sing along!”  
“Will do, ma’am.” I saluted her and turned around, running to the house, up the steps, through the front door...  
And then I died. My friends found me in the beach house, holding a few bolis(popsicles) with a banana peel near my feet. I was a cartoon death and it was almost funny. But I’m sure my friends didn’t feel that way when they went to go look for me when I took too long.


	2. Cute but Loquito

1\. 2020  
I never did find out what those frozen tubes of deliciousness were called. I’m still dead by the way but now I’m a ghost and a pretty lonely one at that. I usually keep myself busy by keeping up with my friends, family, and just having some alone time to myself which isn’t difficult. The only thing I like about this whole dead thing is being able to go anywhere I want and mess with whoever I want, and messing with lifers is literally the most fun I ever have. I spend most of my time at the beach where I died, which I know is kinda sad but it's a nice place to hang out plus I practically live in my beach house. Yes, I know I died there too.  
On this particular Sunday, I did find a very odd boy sitting at my beach, wearing an outfit someone shouldn’t be wearing to the beach; Black skinny jeans, black dress shoes, a flannel shirt wrapped around his waist and a leather jacket. To be fair, before I walked up to him, he did take the jacket off and lay it next to him, revealing white shirt underneath, but that whole outfit was a no for a beach or this heat. Either he’s having an existential crisis or he’s just plain crazy. I thought it was the latter but I still went up to him and looked down at him, laying in the sun with his eyes closed. He was cute with his rosy cheeks and pushed back black hair. He was tapping his fingers on his chest and swaying his head a little.  
“Oh, so he is a little loquito,” I whispered to myself and shook my head. “Sad, he was cute.”  
I tried to walk through him to make my way back to the beach house so I can go rest from all the swimming I did this morning, but the cute, crazy boy was not easily walked through. With a screech, I fell almost on top of him and he screamed, and I didn’t hold back my scream either.  
“Oh my god! I’m so so sorry,” I said and pushed myself off his chest with my hands, sitting up. “I didn’t mean to fall on you. I’m so sorry.”  
“You fell on me!” He shouted and propped himself on his elbows. “That hurt!”  
I waved my hands in a panic mode. “Sorry, I thought I could walk through you, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”  
The boy shook his head at me and smiled at me, giving me a proper look since I fell on top of him. “It’s fine. I’m– Wow, you're beautiful and– Oh.”  
He looked away, his face growing even pinker than before, obviously embarrassed by what he said.  
“Thank you,” I looked down at myself and I realized I’m basically straddling his right thigh with one of my hands just below his chest to hold myself up, still just in a bikini top and shorts. “Oh, joder. Sorry.”  
I got off him and sat next to him, my legs crossed in front of me and I pushed my hair in front of my chest, to make him less uncomfortable. “Sorry, about that. So are you okay?”  
The boy cleared his throat and cautiously looked back at me. “Yeah, I’m fine.”  
His voice cracked and he cleared his throat trying to hide it away but I just smiled at him and tried to hide my amusement. “Well, that’s good. I thought you were alive and I could walk through you, but I guess not.”  
His eyes widened and he gasped, grabbing his body and then looking at me. “You fell on me!”  
I laughed at the smile that grew on his face and he even poked my knee. “I can touch you!”  
“Well, yeah, you’re a ghost, right?” I asked him and he nodded.  
“Does that mean you’re a ghost too?”  
“Yup, for a few years now,” I said. “I’m going to guess you're new to this? Like being a ghost? Ooo, can I guess where you died? Ummmm.”  
He was giving me such an incredulous look as I talked and I knew I was going way too fast but whenever I did meet ghosts I always tried to guess when and how they died. It made me feel better about myself.  
“Okay, Imma say you died in July because of heatstroke and you were… eighteen?” To be honest, I’m not good at guessing.  
The boy proceeded to giggle at me and my heart leapt out of my chest, it was so cute. He shook his head at me and crossed his legs, bringing his knees up to his chest.  
“I'm wrong, aren’t I?”  
“1995, actually. I ate a bad hot dog.”  
I swear I could feel the sand under my dropped chin. “Are you serious? That was like….Twenty-five years ago! Then you’re not new at this ghost thing. And no way you ate a bad hot dog and died?”  
“Oh, no I am. I mean, we are. We were in this dark room for a while and then poof, a girl plays our music and boom,” he makes an explosion gesture with his hands, “we’re back in our studio and we’re ghosts. And I don’t think I can see a hot dog the same way anymore.”  
“Woah– wait, we?”  
“Yeah, me and my bandmates: Sunset Curve. Tell your friends,” He said and gave me a smug smile and a wink. I laughed at his ridiculousness.  
“Never heard of it,” I told him and he pouted. “Well, I was born in 1999, so I guess I was born too late to listen to you.”  
“You should come to listen to us play then!” He exclaimed and jumped up to his feet. “We still play.”  
“Really? Are you any good? Do you play like ghost concerts and all that?” I asked, standing up too, realizing he’s just a bit taller than me.  
He bounced on his feet. “We’re awesome. And nope. We don’t have any gigs right now. But we do practice in our studio a lot.”  
“Wait, can I go watch you guys in your studio?” I asked and clasped my hands together in front of me. “It’ll be so much fun and I'm kinda tired of doing the same thing over and over again every day.”  
“Wait, do you actually wanna come?” His voice got more chipper and he continued to bounce on his feet.  
“Duh, come on…” I stopped when I realized I never asked for his name. I just fell on him and tried to guess his death but I never asked his name. My Madre would kill me right now if she knew how rude I was being. “Sorry, we never traded names. I’m Alejandra. My friends call me Alex or Ale.”  
“My friend’s name is Alex!” He pointed out to me.  
“Can’t wait to meet him, so who did I meet right now? Like you?”  
He laughed and patted his chest. “Right, I’m Reggie. Reginald. Reggie. Hi.”  
“Well, then, Reggie Reginald Reggie, let's go see your band!”  
He laughed and then he gave me an up and down looked before looking away again. “Do you wanna go get changed first, maybe? I don’t know if you wanna– I don't know, you look pretty but you're in a–”  
“Reggie, it’s okay. I basically live– Well I died in these clothes but I’ll be right back. I don't wanna make a bad first impression with your friends like I did with you.” I giggled.  
“Having a pretty girl fall on me is a great first impression,” Reggie said with a wink. I scoffed at him playfully and poofed away to my beach house and grabbed my beach bag (a small old dark red duffle bag) which held some of my clothes from before I died and rummaged in it until I found a red cropped zip-up hoodie and slipped it on. I put stuff back into my bag and threw it over my shoulder before poofing back to the beach where I met Reggie and saw him sitting on a bench with a red bass guitar.  
“Woah, I didn’t know you were gonna bring the band here,” I said and walked up to him. He laughed and shook his head.  
“No, I was just waiting,” Reggie said and glanced over to my bag and the red cropped hoodie I was wearing. He stood up letting the guitar just hanging on him with the strap. “Ready?”  
I nodded at him and did a little dance with my feet before grabbing his arm and letting him poof us to his studio. We landed in front of these two big white garage doors with a basketball hoop above the doors. I twirled around to get a good look at everything. From behind the doors, I could hear a faint sound of a piano and a guitar-playing from inside.  
“That must be Julie and Luke, they’ve been writing songs all day,” Reggie explained and gestured for me to follow. He stepped right through the door and I hesitated for a moment, making sure I was ready to meet new people and then stepped through. The studio was beautiful and the girl singing at the piano had a voice even more beautiful and the guy playing the guitar was absolutely appreciating everything about her: her voice and her actual beauty.  
“...Tripping on the now. What is lost can be found, it's obvious” The girl sang and played a few final notes before turning to the boy holding the guitar. I clapped and they both turned around to look at me, eye wide open in obvious panic.  
“You’re so good,” I told her and turned to Reggie. “She’s awesome.”  
“Hey, guys, this is my new ghost friend,” Reggie said and waved jazz hands at me and I waved at them.  
“Hi, I’m Alejandra, you can call me Alex or Ale, but I guess Ale because Reggie told me you have a friend named Alex,” I rambled on. “So hi.”  
“I met her on the beach. She fell on me,” Reggie explained. I bit my lip and looked over at him trying not to laugh.  
“Yup, I did do that. I didn’t know you were going to tell them that.”  
“Uh, I’m Luke,” the boy with the guitar said and gestured to the girl at the piano and she awkwardly waved at me.  
“I’m Julie,” She said.  
“Well, nice to you guys. So Reggie said you guys were in a band together. That’s so cool. And girl, I love your voice.”  
“Thank you,” Julie said and I got closer to her and narrowed my eyes at her.  
“You look familiar,” I told her and drummed my fingers on the grand piano. “Have you met? Do you go by the beach a lot?”  
Julie looked behind me to look at Reggie and I turned to see Reggie giving her a shrug. “Uh, we haven't meant before.”  
“Oh, okay,” I said and turned to Reggie. “Well, your band, Reggie tells me you guys are awesome.  
“We are,” Luke said. “And now that we’ve got Julie, we’re gonna be even better!”  
Reggie walked over to the amps and started to connect his guitar. I turn to Luke and sit on the couch. “Wow, I’m happy for you but you’re ghosts so I don’t mean to burst your bubbles but how are you gonna get famous? Most ghosts can’t be seen.”  
“Well, Julie can make use visible. It’s so rad,” Luke shouted. “Every time we play with her people can see and hear us but without her, they can only see us.”  
“Really? Wow! That’s so cool,” I said. “Wait, if you play on your own can people see you too or are you just like them and they can only hear you.”  
I bounced in my seat and she just gave me a hesitant confused look and switched her focus from me to the boys and back.  
“I'm alive,” Julie said. “I’m not a ghost.”  
If I had water in my mouth this would be a great time for a spit take, because boy, what the hell?  
“You’re a lifer?” I shouted and stood up, walking to her. “No fucking way.”  
I stood in front of her and slowly moved my hand to pass through her shoulder and immediately pulled back. “Dios mio! You can see me, like actually see me and you’re not dead! This is the coolest shit I have ever seen!” I said and jumped up and jumped. I turned to Julie. “You, ma’am, are amazing. Now I just gotta figure out where you look familiar from.”  
“You’re so cool,” Reggie said from my right side and he was looking at me with such an amazing look. I raised my eyebrows, wondering what he meant but he just smiled at me.  
I look around the studio, awkwardly before going over to their couch and sitting. “So… am I allowed to hear you all play or do I have to wait until your next performance if you guys do that sort of thing.”  
“We don’t have any gigs lined up right now, we’re mostly just focusing on making songs right now,” Julie said sadly and trailed her fingers along the keys.  
“But soon,” Luke spoke up, taking his guitar strap off and placing it on its stand, walking over to Julie, “we’re going to get some local gigs. Then play at some clubs and soon…”  
“A tour,” Julie finished, scooting over so Luke could sit next to her. I raised my eyebrows at then and glanced over to Reggie who had his arms crossed, watching them, before he glanced over to me. I gestured him over and he sat down in front of me on the coffee table.  
“Are they…” I subtly gesture between them. “...you know, together?”  
Reggie chuckled, peeking over at them talking over a sheet of lyrics and music. “They’re not but their chemistry when they sing is amazing.”  
“They’re cute together,” I said. “So where’s your other bandmate, Alex?”  
“I don't know, actually,” Reggie said, looking around. “He was here when I left. He’s–”  
“Hey, guys.” I jump at the voice and face the studio’s white doors where a tall blond boy with a fanny pack across his chest had walked through. He saw me and immediately went into panic mode, pointing at me. “Who’s she?”  
“Hi,” I said with a tight smile.  
“Alex, this is Alex,” Reggie said and gestured to me. Alex tilted his head at me.  
“Call me Alejandra or Ale,” I corrected. “Fellow ghost since 2016.”  
“Yup, my new ghost friend.”  
“Oh, it’s nice to meet you then. How’d you, uh, meet Reggie?”  
I could feel my face get red and when I looked at Reggie, he looked like the Pink Panther and I couldn't help but laugh. “Well, I was at the beach and I thought he was a lifer and I tried to walk through him but I might have fallen on top of him. It was not my best moment.”  
“I didn’t really mind though, so it was okay,” Reggie said and waved it off. I scoffed and turned to Alex; He was obviously amused with this.  
“I think he might have cried a little,” I joked, putting my thumb and index finger just barely above each other, and Reggie gasped in betrayal.  
“I didn’t cry.”  
Alex chuckled. “If she says you cried, you cried.”  
Reggie pouted and I smiled at him before giving him a mocking pout, and he just pouted deeper, looking away from me.  
“Alex, come here,” Luke called him over and Alex threw up a peace sign to say goodbye to me and walked over to Luke where they spoke over that piece of white paper with music scribbled on it.  
“So you play bass?” I questioned Reggie, he immediately pushed away his pouting and turned to me before pointing finger guns at me and clicking his tongue.  
“Yes, I do.” He ran over to where he left his bass and brought it over to where I was sitting. “Just between you and me, I’m the most important member of the band.”  
“No you're not,” Alex said from over at the piano. My eyes widened as Reggie pouted again but he smiled when Alex pointed at Julie. “She is.”  
Reggie fake wiped his forehead to show relief. “Woo, I thought you were gonna say Luke and I got worried.”  
“Hey!”  
I giggled and patted Reggie’s knee to get his attention. He focused on me again. “Hmm?”  
“I can play the guitar a little but I’ve never seen someone play the bass,” I told him. “Can you show me?  
“You play the guitar?” Reggie exclaimed.  
“I mean, yeah,” I said, biting my lip to try to conceal my overall excitement. “My mom was in a mariachi, so I was constantly surrounded by music. So, one of my “uncles” taught me how to play the guitar for a while before I died but I leaned more to the piano.”  
Reggie just stared at me with his mouth gaping and I don't know if I imagined it or not but it seemed like he was watching me the same way I look at pollo asado (grilled chicken).  
“What?” I asked, wanting to know what he was thinking. He shook his head, clearing his throat.  
“Nothing,” Reggie said and looked down at his bass, pulling at one of his strings, the deep tone interrupting the piano music in the back, that Julie was playing. “So what’s a mariachi?”  
My mouth dropped open and I blinked slowly at him. He smiled innocently and put his finger under my chin, closing my mouth. “You live in Los Angeles and you don’t know what a mariachi is?”  
Reggie shook his head and my mouth dropped open again. I lifted my hand and did the sign of the cross over my head and chest before putting my two palms together and closing my eyes. “Ayudame Dios. Dejame orar por este niño pobrecito. No sabe de lo que se pierde. Ah, y todos los corridos, y toda la música ranchera!”  
I can feel Reggie grabbing my shoulder and I opened my eyes, smiling at him innocently as I heard Julie laugh in the background.  
“I want to ask what you just said but I’m pretty sure I’ll just get my feelings hurt.”  
“Don't worry about it but I need to introduce you to some bombass music, which means an adventure,” I exclaimed and hopped out of my seat, holding my hand out.  
“Uh, okay,” Reggie said and was going to grab my hand but I dropped it when I overheard Julie say something.  
“Wait, Julie, what time did you say it was?” I asked her. Julie looked down at her phone and showed me.  
“Just a bit passed four,” Julie said.  
Oh no, I’m late. I didn’t realize what time it was when I agreed to come here.  
I rotate back to face Reggie and gave him a grimace. “Imma need a raincheck on that adventure. I have to be somewhere but I promise you’ll see me again.”  
“Wait, but…”  
The end of his sentence was cut off from my ear but I had already poofed away and landed in front of my destination: the cemetery. I stared up at the dark gates to the cemetery and sigh before breaking into a sprint towards my grave.


	3. I Just Want You To Hear Me

I slowed down the speed in my run once I realized I was getting close to my grave and wanted to be quiet, even if no one could hear me. I stuffed my hands in my shorts’ back pockets and slowly approached the two girls sitting on a picnic blanket in front of my tombstone. Music was playing at a low volume from a speaker in front of the two girls, hidden from my vision by the picnic snacks they had brought to munch on. I circled around them before sitting at the head of my grave, leaning against my tombstone.  
“Hey, April,” I waved at one of the girls who scrolled through her phone, probably searching for a song. I face the younger girl to April’s right and smile. “Hey, Andrea. I see your both here this Sunday. I missed you, Andream, but I know you had a volleyball thing last week so I forgive you. I know how muhc you love that sport. So how’s mom and dad?”  
“Did you find a video of them?” Andrea asked, looking over to try to get a peak at April’s phone screen. She pouted when April shook her head and tossed her phone ontop the grass. “Damn, I really picked the worst possible day to take a mental health day. You should have gotten a video of them.”  
“It was so quick,” April said, shrugging. “But you would have loved it. They were so good and the holograms looked so real, it was insane.”  
Andrea sulked and picked the grapes in a tupperware before grabbing one. “Hopefully they play at school again. I really want to here them pplay.”  
“Hear who play? What happened?” I asked, knowing full well they won’t answer.   
“I know, me too,” April said, and then her eye gaze went to me but I know she was just looking at my name on the tombstone I was using a chair back. “Ale would have loved them. Honestly, I wouldn’t have even been surprised if she joined them just because it seemed like fun.”  
“She definitely would have,” Andrea exclaimed. “Don’t you remember my ninth birthday? God, she was so embarrassing! Ugh, but it was so funny I couldn’t even be that mad at her!”  
“Hey, I’m not embarrassing!”  
“Oh don’t remind me. I remember that vividly. I'm pretty sure I’m still cleaning frosting out of my ear to this day,” April joked and picked at her ear. I giggled at them and picked at the grass next to me. “Do you wanna..?”  
I looked at Andrea and she shook her head, focusing on the grapes. April sighed and looked straight at me and it almost seemed like she could see me. “So, as always, I don’t knwo if you’re here, up there, or you know… down.”  
“I'm right here.”  
“But I just wanted to let you know I love you and I really wish you were here. You would have been at your dream school right now if you were alive. Probably chasing after your stupid math teacher dreams,” April said, her voice wavering. Andrea scoffed and pushed April away fromher.  
“Don’t talk about that dead like that.”  
April rolled her eyes, playfully. “She would have been a horrible math teacher, and you know it. She was good at math but man did she not know how to explain anything. And since you rudely interrupted me, you can go.”  
Andrea sighed and turned to look at me, glancing at April for a split second. “Hey, sis. How’s it going down there?”  
“Andrea!”  
“I didn’t mean in that way. God, okay, umm,” Andrea paused for a second and gripped her fist together. “Mom and dad, they… they think it’s time to clean out your room but I don't–”  
“What?” April shouted, slapping her hand over her mouth to keep her anger down.  
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Andrea said, a tear slipping from her eyes.  
“Oh, baby, no, it’s okay,” I whispered and leaned forward to clean the tear from her cheek but my hand just passed right through her. I pulled myself away from her and pulled my knees up to my chest, hugging my legs.   
“I don't even want to yet. I’m not ready. But they think it’s been long enough and they’re even using the excuse that if she was alive, she would have cleaned it out for college but I–”  
“Come here, kid,” April pulled the girl towards her and held her in her arms, placing a soft kiss on her head. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll talk to them.”  
“She wouldn’t clean out her room if she was still here and they know that. They’re just trying to get rid of her and they shouldn’t.”  
“It’s going to be okay, Andrea,” I tried to tell her through the cracks in my voice. I wiped away some of my own tears and sat closer to them. April tried to shush Andrea and keep her calm. “I’ll always be here for you, room or not room. I found this girl. She can make ghost visible and I’m going to try to see if she can make me visible too. Then, I’ll be able to talk to you and you can actually talk to me. You’ll be able to see me and then you’ll know I’m always here for you.”  
I glanced up to April’s face and she had watery eyes but I could see her body shaking just slightly, trying to keep it together for Andrea. “And then I’ll be able to thank you for taking care of my sister and basically taking my spot as my older sister, especially when Andrea needed an older sister the most.”  
I sat in silence for a while trying to compose myself and hold myself together because I still had to go home and maybe if Reggie was still down for an adventure, I would go with him. 

“There’s this boy,” I told him. “I just met him today. He’s a ghost just like me and in a band with that girl I told you about earlier. He’s nice and I think I might be taking him on a culture field trip. That boy didn't know what mariachi was but I guess I can’t blame him. If Mami is going to play somewhere, I need to know so I can show him but I think I might take him to that other taqueria near the house, the one where Miguel worked at for a bit. I know they always have someone playing at any time of the day. He’s a bass player in his band by the way. I haven't heard him play yet but the band has confidence in each other so I think they're good. Reggie, that’s his name, invited me to listen to them when they play but I had to come here to speak with you but don't worry I love being here. The rest of the band is nice too and the girl, Julie, has such an amazing voice too. Maybe I’ll find a way to–”  
“I think we should go,” April told the younger girl in her arms, shaking her a bit.  
“Oh, well I guess it’s my fault that I can’t talk to you much right because I was–”  
“Yeah I have homework to do. Are you coming over to eat?”  
“I guess I’ll see you guys later,” I told them, picking at the sleeves of my sweater, while they picked up all the things they brought. I went to grab April’s hand but I stopped myself from experiencing the ghost rejection and poofed away.  
I landed back on the beach in front of my beach house and let my legs give out. I covered up my face with my hands trying to repress the tears but it didn’t stop me from screaming. Meeting my sister and best friend will never get easy and I keep going back. I can’t stop myself from going back. I can’t just lose them like they lost me. But I can’t continue to watch them cry over my grave. I want to tell them to move on, to leave me alone, to forget about me and be happy. And yet, I won’t leave them alone.  
I pushed myself off my knees and sat on my butt, pulling my legs up to my chest, laying my chin on one of my knees. I started off into the waves and watched them push in and then pull back, taking what belongs to the ocean with it. I wiped away my tears so I could see the sun get lower and lower.  
“Alejandra?” A familiar voice said from behind me. I jumped and turned around, almost falling on my back completely if I hadnt caught myself with my elbow. Towering over me was Reggie looking at me with his eyes scrunched up and obvious worry in his face.  
“Oh, hey, Reggie,” I said awkwardly. “How’s it going?”  
He crouched down in front of me. “Are you okay?”  
I realized my eyes were still wet and I tried to laugh my sadness away and wiped my tears. “Oh, yeah, I’m good.”  
He dropped down onto his bottom. “YOu forgot your bag in our studio.”  
I looked down at his hands and noticed my beat up beach duffle bag in his hands. He gave it to me, his pinkie grazing the top of my hand cause me to shiver slightly. “Are you cold?”  
My eyes widened when I realized he noticed me actually shiver and I shook my head. “No its fine, just got a random chill. A ghost must have passed through me.”  
Reggie chuckled at my joke before slipping his leather jacket off and handing it to me, insisting I put it on. I tried to refuse it but his adorable puppy eyes wouldn’t let me reject his leather jacket, so I took it and wore it over my hoodie. “You won’t be cold?”  
“No, I’ll be fine,” Reggie said, waving me off. He cleared his throat, “So are you okay? You were crying?”  
I wringed my hands and tried to decide whether I wanted to tell him what was wrong or not. There was no harm towards me if I told him but I’m scared I might never stop talking if I start telling Reggie what was wrong. He has his own problems to deal with and he’s new to this ghost thing, plus he died back in 1995 so he might not even understand how it feels to see your family cry over you.  
“You don’t have to tell me, sorry I asked,” Reggie said and I snapped my neck up to see him, feeling bad that I took long when I heard the rejection in his voice.  
“No, it’s fine. No harm done,” I chuckled, nervously. “It’s just… The afterlife is hard.”  
Reggie nodded. “I get that.”  
“Do you?”  
Reggie closed his eyes for a second. “Well, besides the obvious perks like teleporting, I miss being alive. I don’t even know where my family is. My parents’ house was turned into a bike shop.”  
My ears perked up, is that a subject change I hear? “The bike shop at the turn all the way over there?”  
Reggie nodded. “When I saw it at first, I wished it could have been a pizzeria there instead.”  
I nodded in understanding. “I get what you mean. My family almost sold my beach house to have it torn down after I died, but my older brother managed to convince my parents to keep it.”  
Reggie glanced back and pointed at it with his thumb. “That’s yours?”  
“Yeah, it is my mom, uncles, and aunt's childhood home. My grandfather left to me but my parents had legal ownership until I turned twenty-one which would have been this year,” I explained.   
“Awesome! Can we go inside?” Reggie asked. I nodded enthusiastically to him and he stood up almost immediately taking my hand, pulling me up to my feet. I pulled him, almost running, to my beach house.  
“Woah!” Reggie twirled around to look at the house, completely, but I just rolled my eyes at him flicking the lights on. His exclamation got louder once he could see the house properly, and then his eyes landed on the guitar and piano in the corner and his eyes got wider. “Is this your piano and your guitar?”  
“Yeah, it is.”  
He ran over to it like an excited golden retriever going after a bright yellow tennis. I giggled at his behavior and threw myself on the couch, dropping my bag at my feet. Reggie picked up the guitar and inspecte it before walking over to me and thrusting it into my hands.  
“Can you play it?”  
I took the guitar gently from his hands and positioned it on my lap. “Yeah, I can.”  
He gestured for me to do something and I sighed, staring down at the strings, before placing my left fingers into the postion to be able to play the the major D chord. Reggie looked down at me excited and I just smiled at him before raising my hand before coming down to pluck a singular string. “And that is the extent of my guitar playing abilities.”  
Reggie’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”  
I giggled, shaking my head. “No, I’m just joking. I can play Twinkle Twinkle Littler Star, Happy Birthday, and Las Mananitas too. So if you want to you can book me for a seven year old’s birthday party.” Reggie gave me a look to try to tell me to tell him the truth but I just shrugged at me. “I’m joking, but maybe I’m not.”  
Reggie laughed and pulled at one of the strings. “Come on, I’m serious.”  
“Fine, only because you insist,” I said and repositioned my guitar again so I could see my fingers more clearly. “I am warning you, I’m not that google.”  
“I’m sure you are.”  
I closed my eyes for a second before opening them up with an idea of a song I wanted to play. “It’s not in English but you mostly asked for guitar so yeah.”  
Reggie just kept insisting I play so I began with the beginning chords and I could see Reggie’s face light up in amazement, and then I began to sing and boy I almost stopped mid word when I saw Reggie’s eyes go wide and then fall into amazement.  
“No se que tienen las flores llorona  
las flores del campo santo.  
No se que tienen las flores llorona  
las flores del campo santo.Que cuando las mueve el viento llorona,  
parece que estan llorando.  
Que cuando las mueve el viento llorona,  
parece que estan llorando.  
I continued the song and Reggie just tapped feet and hands to the beat you could catch and I smiled at him through the lyrics, despite the song not being the happiest. When I finished, Reggie clapped loudly and for way too long. I had to hold his hands together to make him stop.  
“That was beautiful. I understood none of it but it was so beautiful,” Reggie said. My face got warm and I grinned at him, handing him my guitar.  
“Thank you,” I told him. “I haven’t sung in front of someone in a long time. I mostly just play when I’m bored and alone.”  
Reggie nodded as he placed my guitar on its stand and pointed at the guitar. “Do you wanna maybe show me your skills on this?”  
I wagged my finger at him. “Now we’re talking, Reginald. Be prepared to be swung by my amazing skills at Mary Had a Little Lamb.”  
“Oh, I’m ready,” Reggie said and pulled me out of the couch, leading me to the piano bench.   
We spent the rest of the night playing around with my piano, running around my house, trying not to slip on any banana peels (yes, I might have showed him where I died and yes it was awkward), I showed him how Netflix works on the TV in the living room, and finally showed him my sweet collection of Dr. Pepper’s in the fridge, that I can’t drink sadly.  
“Hey, look, I picked it up,” Reggie exclaimed, twirling around to show me the bowl he had in his hands.  
“Wow, Reggie, you’re so strong,” I joked and then gasped as I watched the bowl slip from his grip, smashing on the ground. Reggie looked from the bowl and then directly into my eyes and winked.  
“You know it.”  
I threw a rag at him, laughing at his ridiculousness and it went straight through him. “Hey! Rude, you know I can’t pick stuff up.”  
“Aw, that sucks for you.” Reggie pouted and sighed, hoping off the counter and grabbed a spoon from the counter. “Okay, so I imagine it like putting your energy into this one part of your body, eventually it does get easier so you don’t have to focus as much but for right now you can have to focus to put all your energy into that one part of your body.”  
I held my empty hand out and Reggie hesitantly placed his hand, palm up, onto my hand. I held the spoon on his hand and I looked up at him, and I could tell he was trying his hardest to focus. At that moment, he yanked the spoon from my hand, surprisinging me. He gave off a victory cry and did a cute little jump.  
“You did it!”  
“I did it!”  
“Okay and now pick up another bowl!” Reggie froze for a second and stared at me with wide eyes before glancing at the bowls and grabbing one off the counter. He got so excited he let go of it and it joined its brother on the ground in pieces.  
“Sorry,” Reggie said, trying to look as apologetic as possible. I waved it off.  
“It’s okay, I can just clean it later,” I said and hopped back onto the counter, playing with the plastic leaves of the fake plant next to the sink. “It’s late, do you need to get back to your friends any time soon.”  
“I have been gone for a few hours so I should probably go let them know where I went. I didn’t tell them where I was going,” Reggie explained. I nodded and hopped off the counter.   
We both poofed back to the front of the studio. The lights were still on and if I listened carefully, ignoring the crickets in the background, I could hear faint laughter coming from inside.  
“Seems like they’re still awake,” I said. Reggie led me inside the studio where Alex and Luke were still up, talking. Luke was laying on the couch and Alex was lounging on the chair next to him, his legs thrown over the chair arm.  
“Hey, guys,” Reggie said as the boys turned to look at us.  
“Reggie,” Alex exclaimed, scrambling out of the chair to run up to Reggie and give him a big hug.   
“We thought you died, man,” Luke said from the couch. Alex pulled away from Reggie and turned to look.  
“He did, Luke. We all did. There’s not a single living person in this room.”  
“Way to call him out like that, Alex,” I said. Alex twirled around to look at me and I smiled in his direction.  
“Oh, hey, you're back too,” Alex said, giving me an up and down look before snickering and sharing a look with Luke who just smiled, shaking his head and laid back down on the couch.  
“Um, what?” I asked, picking at the front belt loop of my shorts.   
“Nothing,” Alex said. I pursed my lips and then gestured to Reggie.  
“I just came to drop your idiot off,” I explained. “So I will be going now.”  
“Aw, already?” Luke said.  
“Well, yeah, I’m kinda tired,” I said, smiling over at Reggie. “Reggie is a lot to handle.”  
The boys shared a look before bursting out in laughter and I realized what I said. “Oh, my god! That was not meant to sound as perverted as it did!”  
The boys just laughed and waved me off while I covered my face in embarrassment. Reggie threw a lazy arm over my shoulder. “No, it’s good.”  
“Ok, cool, just sorry. Well I better go and leave you all to your ghostly band activities. See you later, Reggie.”  
I walked out of the studio backwards and then poofed away once I was outside. It wasn’t until my back hit my couch did I realize what exactly the boys giggled at when Reggie and I arrived. I was still wearing Reggie’s leather jacket. I laughed at my own stupidity and ran my hands over the smooth leather on my arms.   
“You just met him, Hernandez, you’re being crazy,” I whispered to myself as I imagined Reggie’s laugh from a few moments before. “I should take this back to him.”  
I step to poof away but then I freeze, feeling the leather again. I stop myself and sigh. “The boys could have gotten busy right now and I don’t want to interrupt. I feel like I’ve annoyed them enough.”  
I pulled the jacket tighter and laid down on the couch, closing my eyes and trying to think through what I should do. “I mean, does he want it back? He would have asked if he wanted back and he didn't...But did he even notice? Ugh, you know what, Alejandra, you are going to wait until tomorrow, when you see him again because you’re gonna take him on that adventure, and then you’re going to give it to him and try not to die of embarrassment. Yeah, that’s exactly what I am going to do.”  
I realize further into my couch with a soft relief of breath. “Ay, dios, I'm going insane.”


	4. 4. Some Feelings Are Being Swirled Around

I see Reggie standing in front of the glass stairs of the house and my eyes went wide when I saw the inside of the mansion. "Holy shit!"

I spun in place to look at everything in the house. Dozens of memorabilia from Trevor Wilson's music career. But what really got me was the huge picture of Trevor's face on the wall."Self-conceited, much?"

"Alejandra, what are you doing here?" Reggie asked and walked up to me. The other boys were wandering around the house, looking at everything on the wall.

"I came to stop all of you, but I think I should let you have just a tiny bit of revenge to get it off your minds for now until the dance so then you can show him off by becoming legends even after death."

Reggie smirked and put an arm around my shoulders. "Have I mentioned that you are awesome?"

"I wouldn't mind hearing it more."

"Have you seen these platinum records?" Alex exclaimed. Reggie spun us around to face him.

"Platinum?"

"He recorded 'My Name is Luke'! My name is Luke!" Luke shouted.

"Wow, he couldn't have at least called it Bobby or Trevor," I said, pulling away from Reggie to look at everything. "He didn't have to copy everything you wrote."

The doors to the mansion opened and into the house entered the man of the hour, Trevor Wilson. "Oh, he's worse in person."

Trevor walked from the door and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Carrie, I'm gonna meditate."

"He wears sunglasses indoors," Reggie pointed out.

"That's how you know he's a real douche," I said and shook my head at him. "People who do that literally look so dumb."

"I can't stand him!" Reggie shouted, watching him leave up the stairs.

"Time for his past to haunt him," Luke said. I stare at him and grab Reggie's and Luke's hands, to stop them from doing anything too bad but they just pull me along.

"Not anything bad, ok?" I grunted as I tried to gain back my feet's control and not trip backwards on the stairs. The boys didn't stop pulling me until we reached the top and Alex called out for them to wait. We turned to face him.

"Let's not rush this. This is my first time haunting someone," Alex explained, putting his hands on his waist. "I wanna make it special."

"Ok, Alex."

"Yes, let's not rush this, I agree with that, the other part, eh," I told them boys and they just rolled their eyes pulling me in Bobby's direction. We followed Bobby up to his meditation room where he went behind a door to change.

"Ok, boys, let's do this," Luke said as Bobby walked back out in different clothes. I pulled my hands away from the boys as they walked over to where Bobby was sitting.

"Nothing too big, ok? Or Julie might kill me," I told them and they just rolled their eyes at me. Luke bent down next to Bobby and stuck his finger in his mouth before giving Bobby a wet willy. Bobby cringed at it and picked his ear, trying to figure out what just happened. Reggie pulled me over to the candles and had me help him blow them out. Bobby looked up at them with wide eyes and then snapped his head over to the stereo that Alex started playing. Luke was running out of the room and into the bathroom, where I heard the shower start. The boys laughed as Bobby called out for his daughter. Reggie moved to where the mirror was and started to write on the condensation.

'Hello, Bobby.'

The boys laughed and ran out of the bathroom before Bobby and Alex shut the door behind them. On the other side, I could hear Bobby run to the door before slamming into it. The boys laughed even louder and I couldn't help but laugh too and help Alex keep the door shut.

"Let...Me...Out!" Bobby yelled and so we did, letting the door open and Bobby stumbled out. The face on Bobby's face was priceless and I giggled as he ran down the stairs.

The boys stood side by side and high fived. Reggie smirked at me and pulled me over to them, an arm around the back of my neck. "Let's go."

We all poofed to the outside, by his pool just in time to see his helicopter fly away to who knows where.

"I'm not going to lie, that was fun," I told the boys.

"Quick! Let's moon him before he gets too far away!" Reggie suggested and turned around, already unbelting his pants. My face heats up when I make eye contact with him and I turn around so I couldn't see them.

"He can't see us," Alex pointed out. I nod to his words.

"Oh, it's not for him, bro. It's for us," Luke told him, and I could hear shuffling behind me so I made sure to keep facing forward. "Whew! Take that, Bobby!"

"Julie, hey," I said as she approached us. I turned back around when I saw Julie looking at the boys.

"So, did you guys have fun in there?" Julie asked the boys. She was annoyed and I knew she wasn't going to put up with their shit anymore.

"Ok, you'd do the exact same if he stole all your songs," Luke reasoned.

"But you have new songs. With me," Julie said, trying to reason with the boys about this. "The best way to get back at Trevor is for this band to do great."

"She's right," I spoke up. "And besides you've had your fun and blown off some steam."

"Yes, and to do great we have to play at the dance, then clubs."

Luke skipped up to her, opening his arms up. "And tours. I know."

"I'll see you guys at school. We go on at nine. Please don't be late. There's gonna be a lot of people here. And I'll see you at the studio for practice."

"Yeah, I'll see her later."

"We got it, all right? Don't worry," Alex reassured her and she left us standing there by the pool.

"I don't care what Julie says. I'm glad we scared Bobby," Reggie said once Julie had left. I rolled my eyes at him and leaned back on a chair. "Wish we'd done more, like... like written "theif" on his forehead."

"Reggie, come on," I interrupted him. "I get you guys wanted to scare him but that's enough. Please don't be unreasonable here. You have to put all of this energy into performing with Julie."

"Yeah, we get that, Ale, but what Bobby did..." Alex tightened his fist in front of him and I nodded.

"I know."

"And, Alex, how did you shut the door? You could barely open a garage door," Luke pointed out. I raise my eyebrow at him, receiving a quick knowing look from Reggie.

"Learned that from Willie, didn't you?" Reggie said, in a teasing voice.

"Yeah. Well, he taught me some things, and we screamed in a museum," Alex responded, smiling at his memories. "It's a long story."

"Who's Willie?" I asked the boys. Reggie patted Alex's shoulder.

"Alex's special ghost friend," Reggie teased further, smirking at Alex.

"I wouldn't say special," Alex said, straining his voice. "He's just my friend. Like you to Reggie...wait, no."

"So, he is a special friend," Reggie corrected him. Alex sighed and stared down at his shoes.

"Aww, I'm your special friend?" I said and placed my right hand over my heart. "That's so sweet. Thanks, Reggie."

Reggie winked at me and I winked back, while Alex just groaned in disappointment.

"You guys are adorable, but..." Luke pointed at Reggie and me before turning to Alex. "You think Willie has a few more trick up his sleeve?"

"Wait, not for Bobby, right? Was that not enough? You scared him already and you have to get ready for the dance for Julie. You can't let her down. This is so important to her and for you," I stood up straight. "Please, guys."

The guys all looked down for a second, finding their shoes really intriguing. I sighed as the boys raised their heads but this time they all had puppy eyes and Reggie's face was the worst of them all. "God, ok, where's Willie? And we have to hurry and just so you know, I could teach you three stuff on my own but I think Alex would like the excuse to talk to his special friend again."

Alex explained that when he left Willie, he said that he'd be skating on the beach so we should probably poof there if we wanted to find him. When we arrived, we landed in front of a skater boy heading in our direction. I stand to the side by Luke, but take a few steps around Luke to stand next to me and I smile at him.

"Hey!" The skater boy laughed as he approached us, but he was focusing on Alex. "What's up, man? You brought friends."

Alex grinned at him and gestured to the boys. "Yeah, these are my bandmates, Luke and Reggie. And that's Reggie friend, Ale."

Willie looked over at me and I waved, and he nodded at me, before fist-bumping with the guys. "Coo. I'm Willie. So, you guys here to learn some new 'tricks'?"

He wiggled his fingers at us before pointing to the polices' ATVs, making their siren go off, allowing the two young skaters to be able to escape the two police officers that were writing them up. The boys next to me stared in amazement and Reggie got so excited he slightly bounced on the balls of his feet and repeatedly hit my shoulder.

"Do it again! Do it again!" Reggie told Willie, wanting to see it again. I giggled at him and raised an eyebrow at Willie before my hand in the ATVs directions and the sirens went off again, scaring the officers and confusing them further than before. Willie laughed.

"Actually, we were thinking a little bigger," Luke said. "An old bandmate stole from us. We want to confront him face-to-face."

I scrunched up my face and stared at Luke. He didn't say anything about confronting him. I thought they just wanted some tips on how to haunt better.

"Alright, is this, uh, old friend of yours a lifer?" Willie asked.

"Oh, that's fancy ghost lingo for the living," Alex explained to the boys. He leaned down to Alex and a softer voice and glancing at Willie slighting, he said, "A little something I picked up."

"Oh, Ale is always saying that word but I forget to ask," Reggie pointed out and I nodded. "Then yeah. He's a lifer. Too much of fancy pants for street dogs."

"Yeah, sorry, speaking to lifers, is even out of my league," Willie apologized to the boys.

"Mine, too," I admitted. "The afterlife would be a lot easier if ghosts could do that."

The boys all showed a look of disappointment, and I gave Reggie a few sympathy pats on his shoulder and he leaned his head down to tap my hand.

"You might not be able to confront him face to face but ghosts still have other abilities we could use to scare him and..."

"You know, but there is one ghost who might be able to help you guys," Willie added. I stare at him in disbelief.

"There couldn't be. Trust me, if there was someone like that, I would have found them by now," I tell Willie and he shakes his head at me.

"Not many ghost know about him. He likes to stay below the radar and the people who know about him are too busy to talk to other people who don't, not me tho, obviously. He's kind of a big deal," Willie explained to us.

"Literally, anything would help," Luke said, bouncing on his feet in anticipation. I stared at Willie, sceptical of his "below the radar" guy.

"Oh, all right. Well, um, I gotta go take care of some things, but I'll meet you where Alex and I met, eight o'clock. See ya." Willie skated away and the boys shared a look with each other and Reggie nudged my shoulder, telling me to follow and we poofed away. We landed back inside Julie's studio and Luke is bouncing on his feet again, going everywhere in the room while Alex just paced in a small space in front of us. I flop down on the chair I was before and Reggie sat on the armchair next to me. I rest my head against his hip and I play with the small pieces of his jeans that were ripped.

"I don't trust him," I told the boys, and Alex and Luke paused in their places and turned to me. Alex raised his eyebrows at me and I sighed. "Like, it seems weird for him to be like below the radar. It just seems sketchy."

"If Willie trusts him, then I do too," Alex said and leaned on a stool. I rolled my eyes, pushing back a smile, thinking about how much Alex must like Willie to trust him so blindly.

"And we have to do something to confront Bobby," Luke said. I wave my hands in front of me to release the tension in my body.

"I get that," I sighed. "But it just doesn't seem safe. You don't–"

"We can't just do nothing," Reggie groaned out. I stare up at him, biting my lip and slowing taking my hand off the rips of his jeans.

"Hey, Alex," Luke said, giving me an excuse to look away from Reggie's eyes and diverted my attention to him. "Wanna come help me find Julie? Tell her we should rehearse, now that you're here."

I gaze over to Alex and he clears his throat, his eyes darting from me and Reggie to Luke, before nodding. "Yeah, let's go."

And they poofed away, leaving Reggie and me alone.

Reggie sighs before leaving the spot behind me and sitting on the coffee table in front of me. He positioned his elbows on his knees for support while he leaned forward towards me. I pick my feet off the floor and cross them. Reggie glances up to me from the floor and smiles before reaching up and pulling my hand away from my mouth and I realized I was biting my nails subconsciously.

"Thanks," I mutter. Reggie smiles at me again.

"Sorry, I just can't believe Bobby did that to us. He was like a brother to us. I just don't know he could betray us like that. He knew how hard all of us worked to get where we were before we died and how much we all lost. Becoming legends wasn't just going to be a dream to us and he knew that, so for him to not give us credit... it hurts and I can't imagine young Bobby betraying us like that."

I reached up to his face and wiped the tears away with my hand, cupping his face in my hand softy. "I bet you were such a good friend to him and I'm sure Luke and Alex can testify to that. And as for all the other stuff, I wish I knew so I could tell you but I'm just as clueless But what I can tell you is that you aren't going to let him get away with it. You're going to build a new legacy with Julie and I'll even help as much as I can."

"It doesn't matter now," Reggie muttered, leaning into my hand, which was wiping the tears from his eyes. I smiled at him, even though he had his eyes closed. "I just want to get him back."

"I get that but you can't let him break you like this okay? And I'm going to be honest, I really hate the idea of you three going to a random sketchy ghost for help but if it'll help you move on, I think you should do it. But after that, just focusing on getting you to be a legend. And you better not miss Julie's dance thing."

Reggie nodded and squeezed my other empty hand, before opening his eyes again and pulling me into a hug instantly. It took me off guard so I hesitated for a second but then I immediately wrapped my arms around him tightly.

"Thanks," Reggie whispered into my ear and I swear I stopped breathing for a second. I nodded into his shoulder and tried to regulate my breathing again but my heart wouldn't stop beating.


	5. 5. Wait...I'm Falling

The boys got back only a few minutes after Reggie and I finished talking. Julie even let a giggle out when she saw the way Reggie was sitting on me while he made sure his bass was in tune and I played tic-tac-toe on his back with myself, tracing the lines with my fingernails. He didn't even warn me before he plopped himself down on my lap. He just did it out of nowhere once he grabbed his bass.

"You're back," Reggie shouted and hopped off my lap, my thighs immediately feeling the cold from the absence of him and resisted the urge to whine and steal his flannel to get back his warmth but his jacket will have to do.

"You ready?" Luke asked, switching his gaze between Reggie and me.

"Yeah, let's do this!" Reggie yelled and I nodded.

"I'm ready for my VIP show." I leaned back in my chair and the band got themselves ready to rehearse before the dance tonight. Eight o'clock arrived quickly and Julie excused herself from everyone to get ready for the dance while the boys all go together to leave to meet Willie.

"Don't get hurt and don't be late," I told the boy before they were about to leave. Reggie nodded at me with a smile.

"We know," Luke said, pulling his coat on, "and can you do us a favor and not tell Julie where we're going? Please? We won't even miss the dance so she won't even know."

Luke clasped his hands together and turned to the boys, nodding for them to stand in front of me and pout with him. I rolled my eyes at them and then looked at Reggie and my heart melted at the sight of his puppy dog eyes and pouted lips. "Okay, just remember, be there by nine."

With that Alex and Luke poofed to where Alex had met Willie. I cock my head to the side, waiting for Reggie to poof out but he didn't, he just stood there staring at me with a grin.

"What?" I asked, shifting my weight between my feet, glancing from the floor up to him repeatedly. Reggie quickly took off his flannel, exposing the tank top underneath, and even though I knew Luke had more muscle than Reggie, I didn't stop myself from taking a peeking at Reggie's muscles.

"I want to look classy to meet this ghost," Reggie shrugged, holding the flannel out to me. I hesitantly grabbed it, holding it to my chest.

"So, you're going to show up in a tank top?"

"I'm asking for my jacket, but you can wear my flannel if you're cold," Reggie explained. I picked at the bottom of his leather jacket with my fingers and pouted at him.

"I don't know, Reg, I've grown attached to it," I joked, crossing my arms over the jacket and flannel. "And this flannel, I think I'm going to keep it forever. It's comfy."

Reggie giggled, blush spreading along his neck stepped closer to me, grabbing the jacket by the collar softly, slightly pulling me to him. His thumbs barely skimmed the skin just above my chest and I held my breath at the contact. "You can wear my jacket all you want after today, or nothing at all when we're alone, but for tonight, can I wear it?"

Oh, God. My mouth dropped open slightly but I closed it, swallowing harshly. I look away from Reggie, feeling my cheeks grow warm. "Oh, uh...You don't have to say it like that, I'll give it to you, I was just messing around."

"Say it like what?" Reggie questioned and I looked up to him, my face still warm, and I could tell he had no idea what I had thought about when he said that.

"Nevermind," I said, my face growing ever warmer and I stepped back, Reggie's hold on his jacket loosening. I took the jacket off and handed it to him. It wasn't cold tonight but the jacket had kept me pretty warm so a small number of goosebumps littered my upper body before I split the flannel on.

"Thank you," Reggie said, smoothing his jacket down with his hands and then glanced up at me. I smiled at him as I cuffed the sleeves once more. "You look beautiful in my flannel. See you later, Ale."

And he poofed away with a wink and a jump.

I gaped at the empty spot where he stood. "You can't just say– Ok, ok. Smooth motherfucker, I didn't even get to say something back."

I turn around, a small smile growing on my face before I skip out of the studio and toward Julie's house, taking my time so I can give her some time to change before I get to her room. My whole body still felt warm after my talk with Reggie and I couldn't stop myself from blushing every time I thought about him standing over me.

I knocked on Julie's door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." I step through her door and walk over to her vanity where she was fixing her hair for tonight. I looked over her outfit and I gasped.

"Damn, you look good! That tie-dye mesh shirt is everything."

Julie glanced at me, smiling brightly. "Thank you! I'm so excited for tonight!"

"I'm sure," I told her and flopped backward onto her bed. "You guys are going to be awesome!"

"I hope so," Julie said. "I don't want to embarrass myself in front of my school."

I sit up and talk to her through her reflection, pulling my bangs in front of my face instead of keeping them at the side where they usually are, while I talk to Julie. "And you won't. You're all going to do so freaking great while looking amazing."

Julie turned around and smiled at me. "Thank you." Then her smile starts to into a sneaky duck face and she raised her eyebrows at me. "So are we going to talk about that thing with Reggie in the studio?"

My face grows warm and I bit my lip thinking back to Reggie's oblivious threat a few moments ago and tried to hide from Julie by flopping backward and folding my arms under my head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Reggie was literally sitting on your lap," Julie exclaimed and tried to slap my thigh but her hand just went right through it. "You two are so cute."

I sighed and pushed myself up on my elbows to look at Julie. "Julie..."

"Come on! Just ask him out already!"

"I'll ask him out when you admit you're attracted to Luke," I smirked at her and it was her turn to sigh.

"He's cute and all but he's a ghost," Julie tried to excuse her feelings and gestured to me. "But you're a ghost and he's a ghost and you both look so cute together plus I can tell you like him and I think Reggie likes you too."

"You think! You don't know if he likes me!"

"So, you like him back? Plus you're even wearing his... wait I thought you wore his jacket?"

I sat up properly and picked at the zipper at the end of the flannel. My body just got warmer as I continued to think back to earlier and how his fingers had barely grazed my skin and it sent me into shock or how close we were and I didn't mind wanting to get closer.

"He wanted to wear his jacket so he offered I wear his flannel to stay warm," I explained to Julie and she gasped.

"You're blushing so hard right now." I rolled my eyes and grabbed the nearest pillow and softly hit her head. "Hey! Watch it! I've got a dance to go to."

I giggled at her and she joined a few seconds later. "I'll admit Reggie is very cute but I don't know...we just met and I don't want to immediately jump into a relationship with someone I don't know well."

Julie shrugged, still wearing a sneaky smile. "That's true."

And that's where we left that conversation. Julie didn't mention it for the rest of the night, mostly because she was too busy worrying about the boys being late to the dance than anything.

"Hey, don't worry, they'll be here," I told Julie while looking out on the crowd trying to spot my sister or April. I turn to Julie and see her bouncing on her heels, tightening her hold on her fake projector. "They'll be here."

Julie nods and turns away from the crowd going off to the side of the stage and sitting down on the ground. "It's almost eleven. The boys should have been here two hours ago."

"I know. I know," I said and bit my lip looking around. "Okay, you know what, I think I might know where they could be so I'm gonna go see if I can pull their asses over here, okay? Okay, uh, I'll be right back."

Julie nodded stiffly and I twirl around, poofing away and landing in front of Bobby's huge mansion. I step through the door making my way through the dimly lit house, trying to find the boys if they were here. As I started to get closer to the top of my stairs, I could hear someone talking in one of the rooms.

"Boys? Reggie?"

I walked into the room and saw Bobby sitting at his desks, staring at his bright computer while he spoke to someone on the phone.

"Come on, man, I'll get you something at the end of the week, I promise," Bobby said, scrolling through something on his computer.

"Ugh, so the boys aren't here scaring you and now I had to look at your dumb face for no reason now." I rolled my eyes as he talked to the man on the phone about getting him something. I walked over to him slowly and peeked over his shoulder to get a look at his computer and he was just looking at his emails. Some fan emails even popped up at Bobby smirked at them before trashing them.

"You're such an asshole you know," I spoke into the void, knowing full well Bobby couldn't hear me. "You stole something from three dead people that you supposedly cared about and that actually cared about you. The balls...the aud- audacity. And then the way you made Reggie break down earlier. I don't how you could even live with the guilt of it all. They were your friends! "

"Oh really?" Bobby said into the phone while finishing up writing something on a notepad before ripping the page out and trying to toss it into the trash but I caught, unraveling it. It was stupid song lyrics that made no sense at all.

"No wonder you stole Luke's songs. You have no talent in that area at all." I crumpled up the piece of paper again and threw it at his head instead. Bobby jumped slightly at the impact but just waved it off as his imagination.

"Oh yeah, Crooked Teeth was one of my favorites to write out. It was a great time," Bobby lied and I groaned at the memory of Reggie's pouting face when that song was brought up. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"The actually fucking audacity." I lift my hand with the full intention to smack him in the head for his stupidity despite being intangible. I swung my hand at him and instead of hearing a swoosh, I hear a smack!

I freeze for a second as Bobby jumps almost out of his seat holding his head at the impact point and glancing all over his office trying to find the source of his pain. He sputtered out random noises into his phone for the other person to hear.

I stared up at him before my gaze traveling to my hand, which was red from hitting him. "I hit him. I actually hit him!"

Bobby trembled as he cautiously went to the light switch by the door, illuminating the room. I stared back down at my hand and then up at him, laughter bubbling inside of me from shock.

"I hit you! I hit you!" I shouted. "How the hell is this possible?"

A ding from his pocket sent Bobby into another jump before he fished his phone out and sighing at the sight.

I hurry over to him again and with the same speed as before I swing my hand at his arm and it smacks him again.

"Holy shit!" We both shout at the hit and while he runs out of the room, calling someone else on his phone I stare down at my hands. "This is amazing! I can...I can touch lifers. This could be amazing... My family.... I can..."

I peek down the hall and see Bobby run down the stairs so I poof to the bottom and hold my arms out ready to push him onto the bottom step but as he ran down the stairs, I couldn't stop him. He passed right through me like I wasn't there.

But I was. I was right there. I had smacked him twice, sending him to another therapy session. I grab onto the railing, balancing myself as my breath grew rapid and my vision blurred with tears.

"Why didn't it work now? I did it twice! Why didn't it work?" I shouted down at the ground as I tried to control my breathing. I felt the skin on my right hand where it was still red from the hit and it felt like normal skin, like every other part of my ghost body, nothing special. "What just happened? I have to tell Reggie... where's Reggie? I have to tell him what I did. And family...I could have...I could have..."

It took a few minutes before I felt like I could poof away without freaking out about what just happened. I landed on the school stage, wiping away my final tear but I noticed something was off. The gym was empty except for Julie and Flynn who were sitting in the middle of the gym in defeat.

"Julie," I called out before poofing off the stage and running to Julie and Flynn. "What happened? Where is everyone?"

"Carrie happened," Flynn grunted at the blonde's name and Julie sighed.

"The boys never showed up. Where were you? Were you able to find them?" Julie asked anger was radiating off her strongly.

"I went to Bobby's. I wanted to see if they were there but they weren't. I couldn't find them," I explained and held my hand out. "Something-"

"Imma got us some ice cream from the cafeteria," Flynn said snd held up a key. "Fools gave me the keys. We can crash at my place and forget about this whole nightmare."

Julie giggled with Flynn when she popped a balloon and walked away. I sat down on the floor with Julie.

"Get me two...of everything," Julie said and sulked on the floor.

"Julie, listen, the craziest—" just as I was about to explain what happened with Bobby, Reggie's voice interrupts me.

"Julie, we are ready to rock this dance!" I whip my head over to the doors where the boys are running through to come inside and start smiling. "Which is clearly over..."

I almost forgot we're supposed to be mad at them so I got up grinning not being able to wait to tell Reggie what happened until I saw Julie's face and remembered how they didn't show up for Julie so I dropped the smile and crossed my arms.

"Look," Luke said, stepping up to us, "we are so, so sorry we bailed on you."

"Yeah, I mean, the night really got away from us," Alex added. I turn to Reggie for him to speak.

"And the..." Reggie stopped talking when he made eye contact with me and he dropped his eyes quickly to the floor.

"Just please tell me it had nothing to do with you getting back at Carrie's dad," Julie begged.

"Oh, of course, not."

"No! We wouldn't do that."

"Us? No."

"No."

I facepalmed at how horrible they all were at lying. It was just a simple "no." Julie scoffed at my side.

"Seriously? You're lying to me?"

The boys shared a look before Alex started talking. "Ok, look, it was something we needed to do."

"But we'll do whatever it takes," Luke assured Julie, coming close to us. "We'll play the next school—"

"What?" Julie cut him off. "Another dance where you can bail on me and make me look like a fool? Save it. You know what really sucks?" Julie moved her head closer so Luke could hear her better. "Our songs were good. And all three of you knew what I've been through and how tough it's been for me to play and then you do this?"

Julie straightened herself and I could see her eyes slightly watering. I wanted so desperately to hold her then but I doubt I would have the same luck as earlier.

"Bands don't do that to each other. Friends don't do that to each other," Julie scolded. "This was a mistake."

I turn to look at the boys and Alex and Reggie were avoiding a look at us but Luke was looking at Julie defected.

"You mean the school dance, right?"

"No. I mean joining a band with you guys." She glanced around at the boys and I tried to grab her hand but she ran away from us.

"Julie!" Luke tried to chase after her but stopped mid-step, letting her go.

"Well, if... If Julie's not in the bad, then..." Reggie finally spoke up

"There is no band," Luke finished Reggie's sentences. I nod to their words.

"And you can only blame yourselves. Where were you guys? I went to Bobby's house and.." I stare down at my right hand. "...and you weren't there. I thought you were getting back at Bobby tonight."

"I'm sorry," Reggie muttered while walking up to me. "We–"

Reggie and the boys all flicker and moan out in pain, holding onto themselves. I jump toward Reggie and grab his shoulders, trying to keep him stable. "What was that? Are you okay?"

"It felt like we were dying all over again," Reggie responded, leaned his head down on my shoulder, holding his chest while I wrap my arms around him, scared to see him flicker again.

"That doesn't make...doesn't make sense," I whispered.

"How can we die if we're already dead?" Luke questioned. Reggie straightened himself and shrugged at Luke. I still had him in a hug and he just wrapped one of his arms around my waist while still holding his chest under his jacket. And at this point when I realized I was rubbing one of my hands that I was mostly hugging him for me.

"Ale, is this supposed to happen to ghosts?" Alex asked me. I pull away slightly from my hug from Reggie to face Alex properly.

"Hell no. There are so many things ghosts shouldn't do and that is one of those," I explained to the boys. I moved my head upwards to look at Reggie even if it wasn't that much. "What exactly happened while you were gone?"

We all took a seat on the gym floor and the boys got to explaining what happened while they missed Julie's school dance. Reggie did try to avoid the topic of dancing with girls when Alex brought it up but I just giggled at his attempts.

"So, he can make other ghosts visible to lifers? Like Julie?" I questioned.

"Sort of but the thing is the ghost don't have to be singing to be visible. They're just walking around talking to lifers like they were alive," Luke shouted.

"And the pizza!" Reggie fell back onto his back against the gym floor. "It was so good!"

"And you didn't bring any back with you," I joked and slapped his thigh softly. "I haven't had food in four years."

"I forget that you didn't spend twenty-five years in a black space like we did, so you've actually been a ghost for years," Alex said.

"I wish I could forget."

We poofed back to Julie's studio soon after so the boys could comfortably come up with a better apology for Julie but I needed to desperately talk to Reggie about what happened so Luke and Alex will just have to deal with him being gone.

"Hey," Reggie yelped as I pulled him out of the studio.

"My house," I told him and poofed away to my house where I flopped down on my couch but immediately popped back off it feeling too anxious to sit still.

"What's up?" Reggie asked after he poofed in front of me leaning back on my couch, his arms spread out on the back. I look down at him and blush slightly at how hot he looked but I shook my head trying to stay on track. I stood in front of him and bit my lip.

"Something happened tonight," I started. Reggie immediately sat up straight, his forehead creasing with worry.

"What?"

"When I went to go look for you at Bobby's house," I continued and l held out my hand for him to look at it but he took it as a sign to hold it and I didn't mind it. It was comforting. "I...He was talking on the phone with someone and he mentioned writing one of Luke's songs and I thought about how upset you were...you all were, so I got mad and I swung my head at his head, fully expecting it to go through but..."

"But what? Did you...?" Reggie stood up, still holding my hand, and I could see that he knew where I was taking the story. I nodded my head up at him.

"I smacked him! I touched a lifer! And I'm freaking out because I don't understand how I was able to do that!"

"You touched him?" Reggie questioned and I nodded with even more enthusiasm. "Seriously?" I repeated my action, biting on my lip harder. "Ale! Holy shit! This is so cool! Please tell me pooped his pants."

"He was so scared and I'm sure he did especially after I did it twice!" Reggie's eyes widened. "Yeah, I know! I was shocked too! I interacted with a lifer without a special lifer who can see ghosts and without a dead magician. Just me, and I...This is just so..."

"Amazing!" Reggie pulled me into a tight hug. I close my eyes against his chest and smile but then I remembered the stairs moment and how I couldn't do it again. I pull away from the hug and look at Reggie with blurry vision.

"But I tried it again, for a third time and it didn't work. I couldn't hit him again," I cried, softly. Reggie leans down to me and uses one of his hands to cup my face and wipe my tears. "I just...I thought, if I could have just done it that third time again, then I'll be able to go to my family and maybe hug them and maybe, just maybe, I'll find a way to make them see and hear me. I just wanted to give them a proper goodbye, or maybe a hello."

I stare into Reggie's eyes, his gaze soft and comforting. "We'll figure out a way for you to do it again. I believe you can do it again."

"What if I can't? What if that was a one-time trick the universe decided to play on me because it's been a fuckton of time since its little banana trick and got bored? I'm scared I just gave myself false hope," I stage-whispered to him, leaning my head on his chest. Reggie giggled and I immediately lifted my head back up to see him. He must have seen my anger? Confusion? That he resisted giggling even more.

"You've been dead for four years and have been waiting for a moment like this and then it happened and you're immediately giving up?" Reggie and rubbed his thumb on my cheek. I leaned into his touch, the anger gone, just confusion, sometimes Reggie says smart things. He sighed and let himself fall on the couch and with one arm still around my waist pulled me down into his lap. I sat right in between his thighs with my legs thrown over one of his thighs. "Sorry I got tired. I did a lot of dancing tonight."

I snorted and slapped the back of his head softly before wrapping that arm around his neck, my other hand in my lap picking at the zipper on his flannel. "I don't see a reason for why I had to sit too or on you?

"You can get off-"

"No, I'm just fine here." Reggie giggled, shaking his head at me.

"We just need to figure out why you could do it then and once we do that it should be easy peasy," Reggie explained. "And I know you can do it. Plus I'll be there to help with anything."

I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder and he placed his head on mine. His hand that went around my waist had gone under the flannel and touched my skin, which at first I didn't notice until he stopped talking, but when I did a shiver went up to my spine but the warmth and comfort this embrace gave me was everything I ever needed.

"Thank you."

For the next hour, we sat like that and talked about stupid theories on why I was able to hit Bobby. One theory even was that I wasn't really dead and that I had cloned during my injury and that my clone was what was left and then my actual self, me, became invisible and mute to everyone that wasn't ghosts or couldn't see ghosts because that's my superpower because I was a superhero in my past life but the head injury caused me to forget but now I'm remembering. It was a very...out there idea but it was an idea.

Eventually, we decided we should save the brainstorm for later because Reggie still had to go back to the band to help with the Julie situation. But before we left I had to ask Reggie one more thing.

"Would you want to meet my family? My cousin is—"

Reggie lifted his head off of mine and stared at me with wide eyes. "We haven't even asked each other out and you want me to meet the family already. Don't you think that's a bit fast?"

I giggled and smacked my head softly on his shoulder. Reggie leaned his head back and laughed. I stared at his jaw for a second, smirking at a sudden idea, before stretching forward and placing a small peck on his jaw. Reggie froze under me and slowly turned to look at me. I winked at him with a smile trying to hold back my laugh.

"And now we've kissed so now let me ask, do you want to meet my family?"

Reggie exhaled quickly while he switched his focus from my eyes to my lips. He shook his head and smiled. "And that wasn't fair plus 'we' didn't kiss. You kissed me."

I shrugged at him. "It is what it is."

Reggie gave me a mocking shrug before grabbing my chin and turning my head away from him. I gasped as I felt him give me a kiss right below my ear. I nudged away slightly and he just laughed. My stomach felt like it just crashed into a wall and my heart was beating way too fast plus the flannel felt like it was too hot to be wearing all of a sudden.

"And now we're even. And yeah I'd love to meet your family. If they're anything like you I'm sure it'll be fun," Reggie said. I nodded and rested my head back on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Reg. My cousin's birthday is this weekend and I like going to family events but because no one can hear me or see me, it gets boring because I don't have anyone."

"And now you've got me."

"And now I've got you."


End file.
